Cooling and ventilating means for the operators of garment presses



1949 N. MONSARRAT 2,488,220

COOLING AND VENTILATING MEANS FOR THE OPERATORS OF GARMENT PRESSES Filed Aug. 3, 1946 2 Sheets-Sheet l IN V EN TOR.

Mcfldaarawai Nov. 15, 1949 N. MONSARRAT 2,483,220

COOLING AND VENTILATING MEANS FOR THE OPERATORS 0F GARMENT PRESSES Filed Aug. 5, 1946 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 IN V EN TOR Patented Nov. 15 1949 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE COOLING AND VENTILATI NG MEANS, FOR THE. OPERATORS, OF GARMENT PRESSES Nicholas Monsarrat, Seekonk, Mass, assignor to Pantex Manufacturing Corporation, Central Falls, R. I-., a corporation-of Delaware Application-August 3, 1946, Serial No..688,181

3 Claims. 1

My invention relates to improvements in pressing machines and particularly relates to the provision of means to protect the operator from the radiant heat which emanates from the pressing elements and from the steam always present during the pressing operation. I am aware that others have attempted to protect the operator from this heat and steam and have provided either special cabinets for closingheat away from the operator or other devices including air blasts interposed between the operator and the pressing elements and garments being pressed.

My invention also relates to improvements in drying means for garment pressing machines, more particularly for the purpose, of removing the moisture from a pressing element thereof, such as a stationary buck, drawn from the garment being pressed.

Both of these problems, namely, the protection of the operator from heat and steam and the disposal of the exhaust steam from thflguck have long been problems in the art and my present invention comprises a structure which solves both of these problems simultaneously. I have discovered that it is not necessary to employ the suction means for removing the steam exactly at the same time that the air is to be removed or the operator is to be protected from the exterior of the pressing machine and that hence a single vacuum or draft producing means can be provided which can be selectively actuated either to dispose of the exhaust steam from the buck or to draw away the heat and steam, emanating from the buck while being operated, from the pressing machine operator.

In attempting to design a device for this purpose I have discovered that most pressing machines have as shown in my application for patent for Drying means for garment pressing machines, 'Ser. No. 549,868, filed August 17, 1944, now Patent No. 2,424,623, issued July 29, 1947, a suitable exhaust line discharging from the buck and vacuum producing means connected thereto 'to withdraw the exhaust steam from the buck and hence from the garment right after the start of the pressing operation, but as stated in said application, said steam removing means are only needed for a fraction of the time that the press is standing and I therefore visualized that here was a vacuum producing means which. couldbe employed to alternatively create a draft of air to draw the heat of the pressing elements and the exhaust steam away from the operator when it was not employed in sucking steam from the buck and as a result of this concept I'evolved the mechanism claimed in this application and instead of providing cabinets or separate apparatus for this purpose, by a slight addition in mechanism to already existing mechanisms I have been able to provide a ventilating draft of air across the pressing machine buck so that the heat and the steam emanating therefrom will be carried away from the pressing machine operator and since the same'exhaust means also serves to provide the drying vacuum necessary for pressing operations it is obvious that a great economy is effected by the elimination of the need for providing two separate mechanisms, one for each of the above purposes.

A further object of'my invention is to so control the current of drying air drawn across the buck away from the operator as to not interfere with the pressing operation and for this purpose the air passage entrance is just sufiicient to prevent steam and heat from being carried towards the operator. This is accomplished by the relatively very large area ofthe air passage inlet whereby the air flow per square inch opening is kept to the required minimum. If" too strong a current of air were produced the effect of buck steam softening and conditioning the garment about to be pressed would not be uniform on the garment and in addition too great a draft of air would subject the operator to a danger of colds and rheumatism. Inasmuch as the step in the pressing operation at, which the need is greatest for carrying away the vapors is during the so called buck steaming step, a preliminary operation for softening the garment before actually pressing and since the suction or vacuum from the buck is never used in conjunction with buck steaming,""the air draft means is always available for ventilating just t thetime when most needed.

Further objects of my invention relate to the structure of the. various parts of my improved mechanism to carry out they above problems,

These and such other objects of my invention as may hereinafter appear will bebest understood from; a description of the, accompanying drawings, which illustrate embodiments thereof.

In the drawings,

Fig. 1 is an end elevation of a garment pressing machine equipped with my invention with the vacuum producing means functioning to create a ventilating draft across the buck away from the operator.

Fig. 2 is an end elevation similar to Fig. l with the vacuum producing means functioning to suck the condensed steam from the buck.

Fig. 3 is a front elevation of the garment pressing machine shown in Figs. 1 and 2.

Fig. 4 is a side elevation of an alternative form of my invention, in which the inlet for the ventilating air passage comprises the open lower end of a hood.

In the drawings, wherein like characters of reference indicate like parts throughout, I8 generally indicates a garment pressing machine. Said pressing machine includes the usual frame I2 on which the stationary pressing buck I4 is rigidly mounted and the movable pressing head I6, which may be moved to and from the pressing position in contact with said buck I4 in any suitable manner such as by the pivotably mounted pressing lever I8 actuated by suitable means (not shown) on the depression of the foot pedal 28.

In the pressing of garments, it has been customary to provide an exhaust line 22 leading from said buck I4 and desirable as stated hitherto to provide means to create a flow of fluid through said exhaust line 22 to remove moisture and exhaust steam from said buck I4.

While any suitable type of motor means, pump or otherwise, to create a flow of fluid through a conduit may be employed to create the flow by suction or impelling, in the preferred embodiment shown, I have provided means 28 to create a vacuum in said exhaust line 22 to remove moisture from the buck. In my preferred embodiment said means preferably comprises the turbo-exhauster 28. I also preferably employ an electric -motor 38 to actuate said vacuum creating means 28 and a circuit 32 for carrying electric current to said electric motor 38 having a manually actuated switch 34 therein. When the pressing machine is in operation the switch is adapted to be turned on so as to rotate the turbo-exhauster 28 or actuate any other type of vacuum producing means employed continuously,

In the preferred embodiment shown and as shown in my aforesaid application, said aforedescribed means are preferably specifically constructed as follows: The exhaust line 22 depends vertically from said pressing buck I4 and the vacuum producing means 28 which preferably comprises a rotary turbo-exhauster 28 having turbine blades 29 is mounted on the lower end thereof. In the preferred embodiment shown, in order that the liquid condensate may at all times discharge downwardly from said turbo-exhauster, I provide a downwardly tilted discharge duct 44 leading from the turbo-exhauster casing 46 and to substantially eliminate the creation of noise I mount suitable mufiler means 48 at the discharge end of said tilted discharge duct 44. Any suitable type of muffler means 48 may be employed but in the embodiment shown I have constructed said muffler means as follows:

The discharge duct 44 per se is offset downwardly from the periphery of the rotating turbine 28 and is wrapped around the lower end of the casing 46 in scroll formation with a decreasing radius and the casing wall is spaced a slight radial distance beyond the periphery of the turbine 28 and shaped so as to guide the spaced impulses from between its blades 29 arcuately downwardly into the surrounding duct 44. This downward deflection of the impulses tends to merge and cushion the impulses. The muffler 48 comprises a fan-like extension 48 having a flattened, narrow mouth 4'9 which tends to discharge the im-- pulses in modulated crescent shaped waves therethrough which, due to their crescent shape, tend to diffuse without noise into the atmosphere. I also provide a preferably replaceable, relatively small liquid condensate collector such as the threaded jar 58 detachably securable to a suitable threaded projection 52 therefor depending from the outer end of the discharge duct 44.

As stated, I preferably provide an electric motor 38 to actuate said turbo-exhauster 28. In the preferred embodiment shown said turbo-exhauster 28 and motor 38 have a common shaft 54. In order that said common shaft or a single independent shaft for said turbo-exhauster 28 may readily find its own center of gyration, I preferably provide resilient means 56 to mount said turbo-exhauster 28, said muffier 48, said collector 58, and motor 38 on the lower end 58 of said exhaust line 22 preferably so that said common shaft 54 may extend along the axis of said exhaust line. While any suitable type of resilient means may be employed for this purpose, I preferably employ a rubber sleeve 56 which is mounted over the lower end 58 of the exhaust line and over a cooperating cylindrical extension 68 from the turbo-exhauster casing 46 and secured thereto by the circular clamps 62.

Any suitable type of means may be employed to admit steam to the buck I4 such as the steam inlet pipe 64 shown, having an inlet valve 66 which ma be suitably actuated by the foot pedal 68 which actuates the vertical link I8 which in turn tilts the horizontal pivoted lever I2 which actuates the vertically extending link I4 to actuate the steam inlet valve 66.

As stated hitherto, my invention comprises means controlled by said same vacuum producing means or turbo-exhauster 28 to draw a draft of air across the pressing buck I4 away from the operator when not employed in drawing exhaust steam down the exhaust duct or line 22 and for this purpose, I provide an air passage I58 or pipe having an opening I52 adjacent the exterior of the buck I4 connected to said exhaust line 22 and valve means 24 normally closing said exhaust line 22 above said air passage connection to cause said vacuum producing means 28 to normally draw ventilating air from the exterior of the draw I4 and manually controlled means I42 including the foot pedal I46 for actuating said valve means 24 to open said exhaust line 22 and close said air passage I58 to remove moisture from said buck temporarily shutting off the flow of ventilating air I54 from the exterior of the buck I4.

As stated, at the bottom of the exhaust line I preferably employ the turbo-exhauster 28, the electric motor 38 for actuating the same having a common shaft 54, a tilted discharge duct 44 leading from said turbo-exhauster 28 having the turbine blades 29 and having mufiler means 48 at the discharge end thereof and a liquid condensate collector 58 depending therefrom and resilient means 56 to mount said turboexhauster,

'2 muffler, collector and motor at the end of said exhaust line so that said common shaft 54' may extend along the axis of said exhaust line 22. At the point of connection of the air passage I58 to the exhaust line 22 I provide a suitable type of two-way valve 24. Said two-way valve 24 may a e -22o comprise "the tilted. gate valve: 24. pivotally mountedat 80 on a T-union 82 having the upper T-branch 84 thereof connected to the lower end of the exhaust line 22 and the lower T-branch thereof 86 connected to a pipe section 58 to which the resilient coupling 58 hitherto described is connected. The T-ba'se of the T-cou'pling 82 is connected to the lower end of the air passage I50. The valve 24' is therefore, a tilting gate valve which swings from the position shown in Fig. 1 closing the exhaust duct 22 to the position shown in Fig. 2, closing the air passage I50 and is pivotally mounted as at 80 at a point exterior of said T-coupling 82. Said valve 24 therefore may comprise the work arm of a lever 88 having a power arm 90 projecting rearwardly therefrom. A link I42 connects the power arm 90 of said lever 88 to the work arm I44 of the foot pedal I46 pivotally mounted on the frame I2 as at I4'8. Said manually actuated means to actuate said valve 24 therefore, comprising the foot pedal I46, link I42 and power arm 90 is preferably of such a weight as to be normally urged to the position shown in Fig. 1 causing the valve 24 to close the exhaust line 22 so that the ventilating draft l54' may be continuously sucked past the buck, down the air passage I58, through the turbo-exhauster 28 and out the muflier discharge hole 49. When it is desired to exhaust steam from the buck as shown in Fig. 2, the operator places his foot on the foot pedal I46, causing the foot pedal to raise the link I44 and power arm 98 of the lever 88 to cause its work arm 24 functioning as a valve to close the air passage I58 and open the exhaust line 22 to remove moisture from said buck as shown in Fig. 2, temporarily shutting off the flow of ventilating air from the exterior of said buck so long as said foot pedal I46 is depressed.

In the embodiment shown in Figs. 1-3, the air passage I50 has an elongated opening I52 which may be covered by the wire mesh I53 as shown in Fig. 3 of substantially the length of the buck directly behind and substantially horizontally aligned with the buck. I have shown in Fig. 4 a slightly different alternative embodiment of air passage, which in this instance comprises the hood I56 having the open lower end I58, mounted above said buck I4 and pressing head I2 and the pipe or air passage I50 connected to the discharge passage 22 through the T-coupling 82. In either embodiment the opening I52 or I58 is preferably of a size just sufficient to permit the vacuum creating means 28 to prevent steam and heat from the pressing operation from being carried towards the operator.

It is thus obvious that so long as the valve 24 is in the position shown in Fig. 1, a ventilating draft of air 54 will be drawn across the pressing machine buck I 4 and clothes so that the heat and steam emanating therefrom will be carried away from the pressing machine operator and as stated this is preferably just sufficient to prevent steam and heat from being carried towards the operator. The amount of drying air drawn across the buck may be regulated by selecting the size of the inlet opening I 52 or I58 and a relatively slow flow is accompl shed by the relatively large area of th air passage opening itself whereby the air flow per square inch opening is kept to the required minimum for otherwise if a current of air across the buck were too strong, the effect of buck steam in softening and conditioning the garment about to be pressed would not be uniform on the garment and too strong a current of air would be dangerous to the health of the operator.

As stated, hitherto the greatest need: for aventilating draft is during the buck steaming operation when the need of carrying away vapors from the operator is greatest. As this is a preliminary operation for softening the garments before the actual pressing thereof, the ventilating means is always available just at the time when most needed. as vacuum is never created in the buck for drawing steam away in connection with buck steaming. It is apparent that I have provided a novel type of ventilating means for garment pressing machines, which can be added at a small cost to function with the buck steam removal means without interfering with its so functioning with the advantages explained.

It is understood that my invention is not limited to the specific embodiments shown and that various deviations thereof may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the appended claims.

What I claim is:

1. In a garment pressing machine, a pressing buck, an exhaust line from said buck, means to create a vacuum in said exhaust line to remove moisture from said buck an air passage to cool and ventilate the press operator opening adjacent the exterior of said buck connected to said exhaust line said opening being of a size just sufiicient to permit said vacuum creating means to prevent steam and heat from being carried towards the operator and valve means normally closing said exhaust line above said air passage connection to normally draw ventilating air from the exterior of the buck and manually controlled means for actuating said valve means to open said exhaust line and close said air passage to remove moisture from said buck, temporarily shutting off the flow of air from the exterior of said buck.

2. In a pressing machine, a pressing buck, an exhaust line depending vertically from said buck, a turbo-exhauster and an electric motor for actuating said turbo-exhauster having a common shaft, a downwardly tilted discharge duct leading from said turbo-exhauster to a point near said machine having muffler means at the discharge end thereof and a liquid condensate collector depending therefrom, resilient means to mount said turbo-exhauster, muffler, collector and motor on the end of said exhaust line with said common shaft extending along the axis of said exhaust line, an air passage to cool and ventilate the press operator opening immediately adjacent the buck, discharging into said exhaust line and a common valve tiltable from a position closing said exhaust line to a position closing said air passage normally resting in a position closing said exhaust line to draw ventilating air from the buck and from the operator and foot pedal means to tilt said valve means at the will of the operator to a position closing said air passage and opening said exhaust line to remove moisture from said buck, temporarily shutting off the fiow of air from the exterior of said buck.

3. In a pressing machine, a pressing buck, an exhaust line from said buck, means to create a vacuum in said exhaust line to remove moisture from said buck, an air passage to cool and ventilate the press operator opening adjacent the exterior of said buck connected to said exhaust line, valve means normally closin said exhaust line movable to a position opening said exhaust line above said air passage connection to nor maliy draw ventilating air from the exterior of the buck and operator operated means for actuating said valve means to open said exhaust line and close said air passage to remove moisture from said buck, temporarily shutting off the flow of air from the exterior of said buck.

NICHOLAS MONSARRAT.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this 'patent:

Number 8. UNITED STATES PATENTS Name Date Palmer Oct. 21, 1919 Peacock May 8, 1923 Dorsey Aug. 30, 1927 Schremp May 1, 1928 Cohen Oct. 2, 1928 Maitzen Jan. 28, 1936 Hanney May 18, 1937 Lofgren Sept. 26, 1939 Laughlin Apr. 30, 1943 Gayring May 21, 1946 

